Blind deconvolution for Doppler centroid estimation in high frequency SAR

For high-quality SAR (synthetic aperture radar) processing, the Doppler centroid frequency is needed. However, SAR data are sampled along the azimuth direction at the pulse repetition frequency (PRF); the estimation of the Doppler centroid frequency by means of spectral analysis techniques may produce ambiguous results due to aliases. The mathematical expression of the residual error that occurs when SAR data are focused with an incorrect alias of the PRF is thus derived. Then, a blind deconvolution technique is used to estimate the actual PRF replica from the focused image. Squinted X-band data, corresponding to those that will be generated by the SIR-C mission, have been generated from the JPL-AirSAR L- and C-band data by means of an inversion of the focusing process. Even if the real data may show differences with respect to the simulated data, the blind deconvolution method appears to be more precise and robust than the other conventional techniques tested